Posted by Naturalist
a resident of Blossom Valley
on May 7, 2014 at 6:35 am

Actually, with ferel cat populations in decline and bird populations up, this shows that natural predators will begin to return in time. This is showing great progress.

In actuality, this is the time of year that the lions territorial lines get redrawn. Some will be chased out of an area, following a creek down stream to look for a new territory. You'll probably see a few more stories like this through the spring/summer, in the areas adjacent to open spaces or connected through greenbelts.

Posted by Rescuer
a resident of another community
on May 7, 2014 at 7:13 am

Actually, the number of feral cats are on the rise. However, the number of feral cats brought into shelters are lower. Why? The Trap and Release programs capture ferals, but if they are tagged or are in poor condition, they are not brought in.
This is why the numbers from the shelters cannot be trusted and you have to do wildlife transections to get a more precise count.

This is rarely done due to the expense, however when it has been done, it showed the numbers rising and how the so-called territorialism of ferals keeping other ferals away was false.

Hopefully, this will be the last lion attracted by the feral kitties in MV...

Naturalist: A Bay Area CL posting last week offered for adoption groups of cats to be released as feral colonies at a place of your choice.Looks like cat rescues think this the way to go. The number of feral cats in Mountain View city limits is rising every year. Not sure where you get your numbers. The Mountain Lion would definitely find enough food along our Mountain View Creeks. Plenty of Raccoons to eat, too.

@Bay City News Service: Since when is that area (west of Shoreline West) considered "downtown"? Some of us nearby didn't really know anything was going on except for the helicopter buzzing around for quite a while.

@BadCats/Rescuer: No reporting has listed the cause as feral cats - that's only a possibility. As Naturalist & ChrisH pointed out, the mountain lion could have made its way into the area via creeks - a highway for critters/food sources. I've seen all sorts of critters including deer and some very plump raccoons pop out of area creeks and walk the streets; they're just as likely a food source.

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